The distribution of Ixodes and Ana plasma carried by Ixodes ticks in Anhui Province was clarified as reference for prevention and control of anaplasmosis.In total,630 hard ticks were collected from Jinzhai County,Hanshan County,Jing-de County and Chaohu City in Anhui Province from April to August 2023.Ticks were identified by morphological analysis and 16S rRNA sequencing.Nested PCR with Anaplasma species-specific primers were used to detect 16S rRNA of Anaplasma spe-cies carried by ticks.A phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA11.0 software.Of the identified ticks,18.8％(18/96)were Rhipicephalus microplus and 81.2％(78/96)were Haemaphysalis longicorni in Jinzhai County of Anhui Province,all were H.longicorni in Hanshan County and Chaohu City,while the main species in Jingde County was R.microplus.The posi-tive rate of Anaplasma carried by H.longicornis was 30.9％(102/330),which included A.bovis at 1.8％(6/330),A.phagocytophilum at 21.8％(72/330)and uncultured Anaplasma species at 7.3％(24/330).R.microplus was positively cor-related to A.bovis(13.6％,18/132).The uncultured Anaplasma species was mainly detected in host-free ticks.A.phagocy-tophilum was detected in 24.4％of parasitic ticks and 15.8％of host-free ticks.The positive rates of host-free and parasitic ticks were 19.9％and 17.8％,respectively.These results show that H.longicornis and R.microplus were the dominant ticks in several counties of Anhui Province.H.longicornis and R.microplus as well as free and parasitic ticks all carried Anaplas-ma.

Objective To analyze the correlation between triglyceride glucose index (TyG) combined with different obesity indexes and new-onset ischemic stroke (IS) in 10 years in prediabetes population in Luzhou,Sichuan through cohort study. Methods A total of 2551 residents who participated in the epidemiological survey in Luzhou in 2011 and were diagnosed as having prediabetes were enrolled. According to the quartiles of baseline TyG-waist circumference (WC),TyG-waist to height ratio (WtHR),TyG-body mass index (BMI),and TyG-waist to hip ratio (WHR),they were divided into the 1st,2nd,3rd,and 4th quartiles groups (Q1,Q2,Q3,and Q4 groups). The incidence of new-onset IS in each group in 10 years was analyzed. The relationships between TyG-WC,TyG-WtHR,TyG-WHR and new-onset IS were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Results Among the 2551 prediabetes subjects enrolled in the study,123 died of various causes during the 10 years of non-intervention follow-up,with a mortality of 4.8％;142 had new-onset IS,with an incidence of 5.6％;and 224 had new-onset diabetes mellitus,including 22 also had new-onset IS,accounting for 9.8％. The quartile grouping analyses of TyG-WC and TyG-WtHR showed that the incidence of new-onset IS in prediabetes subjects over 10 years was Q4 group>Q3 group>Q2 group>Q1 group,with significant differences (P<0.05). The quartile grouping analysis of TyG-BMI showed that there was no significant difference in the incidence of new-onset IS (P>0.05). The quartile grouping analysis of TyG-WHR showed that the incidence of new-onset IS was Q3 group>Q4 group>Q2 group>Q1 group,with significant difference (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that TyG-WtHR was associated with new-onset IS in prediabetes subjects,either without adjusting any variable or after adjusting multiple factors. Conclusion TyG-WtHR is a risk factor of IS in prediabetes individuals. Enhancing management of prediabetes patients with high TyG-WtHR may reduce the risk of IS.

Human brain banks use a standardized protocol to collect,process and store post-mortem human brains and related tissues,along with relevant clinical information,and to provide the tissue samples and data as a resource to foster neuroscience research according to a standardized operating protocols(SOP).Human brain bank serves as the foundation for neuroscience research and the diagnosis of neurological disorders,highlighting the crucial rule of ensuring the consistency of standardized quality for brain tissue samples.The first version of SOP in 2017 was published by the China Human Brain Bank Consortium.As members increases from different regions in China,a revised SOP was drafted by experts from the China Human Brain Bank Consortium to meet the growing demands for neuroscience research.The revised SOP places a strong emphasis on ethical standards,incorporates neuropathological evaluation of brain regions,and provides clarity on spinal cord sampling and pathological assessment.Notable enhancements in this updated version of the SOP include reinforced ethical guidelines,inclusion of matching controls in recruitment,and expansion of brain regions to be sampled for neuropathological evaluation.

Objective:To analyze the genetic evolution and molecular characteristics of H7N9 avian influenza virus (AIV) isolated in a live poultry market.Methods:Samples such as poultry feces, sewage, and hair removal machine and chopping board swabs were collected. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to detect influenza A virus and H7N9 AIV in the samples. The whole genome of H7N9 AIV was amplified with influenza A virus universal primers and sequenced. BLAST and MEGA X were used for sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis and molecular characterization.Results:Seven poultry-related environment samples were collected in the live poultry market in Xuchang city in February 2023, and four were positive for H7N9 AIV. The whole genome sequences of three H7N9 AIV isolates were successfully obtained, and the isolates shared high nucleotide identity in different genes (98.37%-100.00%). BLAST analysis showed they were highly identical to H7N9 strains isolated from domestic poultry in China from 2020 to 2021. Genetic evolution analysis showed that the three isolates clustered in the same branch and were closer to the recent environmental isolates than to the recent strains isolated from human or avian. Through comparison with the sequences of the representative strains in different periods, it was found that the isolated strains in this study showed high avian pathogenicity with four amino acids KRAA inserted at the cleavage site; the hemagglutinin receptor-binding site was QSG, which was an avian binding receptor; there was a G186I mutation in hemagglutinin. Mammalian-adaptive mutation E627K was not detected in polymerase basic protein 2. Mutations (R292K and I38T) associated with drug resistance to neuraminidase inhibitor (oseltamivir) and polymerase acidic protein inhibitor (baloshavir) were not detected, suggesting that these isolates remained susceptible to these drugs. A S31N mutation was found in M2 protein, indicating they were resistant to alkamines.Conclusions:The three H7N9 AIV strains isolated in the live poultry market have high avian pathogenicity, but there are no significant increase in mutations related to the binding ability to human receptors, mammalian pathogenicity, viral transmissibility, or drug resistance as compared with previous representative strains causing human or avian infection.

UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS/MS and network pharmacology were employed to preliminarily study the active components and mechanism of Jinwugutong Capsules in the treatment of osteoporosis. Firstly, UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS/MS was employed to characterize the chemical components of Jinwugutong Capsules, and network pharmacology was employed to establish the "drug-component-target-pathway-disease" network. The key targets and main active components were thus obtained. Secondly, AutoDock was used for the molecular docking between the main active components and key targets. Finally, the animal model of osteoporosis was established, and the effect of Jinwugutong Capsules on the expression of key targets including RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase(AKT1), albumin(ALB), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α) was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). A total of 59 chemical components were identified from Jinwugutong Capsules, among which coryfolin, 8-prenylnaringenin, demethoxycurcumin, isobavachin, and genistein may be the main active components of Jinwugutong Capsules in treating osteoporosis. The topological analysis of the protein-protein interaction(PPI) network revealed 10 core targets such as AKT1, ALB, catenin beta 1(CTNNB1), TNF, and epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) enrichment showed that Jinwugutong Capsules mainly exerted the therapeutic effect by regulating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT) signaling pathway, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signaling pathway, Rap1 signaling pathway and so on. Molecular docking showed that the main active components of Jinwugutong Capsules well bound to the key targets. ELISA results showed that Jinwugutong Capsules down-regulated the protein levels of AKT1 and TNF-α and up-regulated the protein level of ALB, which preliminarily verified the reliability of network pharmacology. This study indicates that Jinwugutong Capsules may play a role in the treatment of osteoporosis through multiple components, targets, and pathways, which can provide reference for the further research.
Animals ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/genetics* ; Network Pharmacology ; Capsules ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Reproducibility of Results ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

This study aimed to explore the mechanism of Qilongtian Capsules in treating acute lung injury(ALI) based on network pharmacology prediction and in vitro experimental validation. Firstly, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was used to analyze the main chemical components of Qilongtian Capsules, and related databases were used to obtain its action targets and ALI disease targets. STRING database was used to build a protein-protein interaction(PPI) network. Metascape database was used to conduct enrichment analysis of Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG). AutoDock software was used to perform molecular docking verification on the main active components and key targets. Then, the RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide(LPS) for in vitro experiments. Cell viability was measured by MTT and ROS level was measured by DCFH-DA. NO content was measured by Griess assay, and IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR. The predicted targets were preliminarily verified by investigating the effect of Qilongtian Capsules on downstream cytokines. Eighty-four compounds were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS. Through database retrieval, 44 active components with 589 target genes were screened out. There were 560 ALI disease targets, and 65 intersection targets. PPI network topology analysis revealed 10 core targets related to ALI, including STAT3, JUN, VEGFA, CASP3, and MMP9. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that Qilongtian Capsules mainly exerted an anti-ALI effect by regulating cancer pathway, AGE-RAGE, MAPK, and JAK-STAT signaling pathways. The results of molecular docking showed that the main active components in Qilongtian Capsules, including crenulatin, ginsenoside F_1, ginsenoside Rb_1, ginsenoside Rd, ginsenoside Rg_1, ginsenoside Rg_3, notoginsenoside Fe, notoginsenoside G, notoginsenoside R_1, notoginsenoside R_2, and notoginsenoside R_3, had good binding affinities with the corresponding protein targets STAT3, JUN, VEGFA, CASP3, and MMP9. Cellular experiments showed that Qilongtian Capsules at 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 mg·mL~(-1) reduced the release of NO, while Qilongtian Capsules at 0.25 and 0.5 mg·mL~(-1) reduced ROS production, down-regulated mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and inhibited the inflammatory cascade. In summary, Qilongtian Capsules may exert therapeutic effects on ALI through multiple components and targets.
Humans ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Ginsenosides ; Caspase 3 ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; Interleukin-6 ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Network Pharmacology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Acute Lung Injury/genetics* ; Capsules ; RNA, Messenger ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology*

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is one of the leading causes of death in cardiovascular disease. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an important method for the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD), and it has greatly reduced the mortality of ACS patients since its application. However, a series of new problems may occur after PCI, such as in-stent restenosis, no-reflow phenomenon, in-stent neoatherosclerosis, late stent thrombosis, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, and malignant ventricular arrhythmias, which result in the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) that seriously reduce the postoperative benefit for patients. The inflammatory response is a key mechanism of MACE after PCI. Therefore, examining effective anti-inflammatory therapies after PCI in patients with ACS is a current research focus to reduce the incidence of MACE. The pharmacological mechanism and clinical efficacy of routine Western medicine treatment for the anti-inflammatory treatment of CHD have been verified. Many Chinese medicine (CM) preparations have been widely used in the treatment of CHD. Basic and clinical studies showed that effectiveness of the combination of CM and Western medicine treatments in reducing incidence of MACE after PCI was better than Western medicine treatment alone. The current paper reviewed the potential mechanism of the inflammatory response and occurrence of MACE after PCI in patients with ACS and the research progress of combined Chinese and Western medicine treatments in reducing incidence of MACE. The results provide a theoretical basis for further research and clinical treatment.
Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/methods* ; Acute Coronary Syndrome/drug therapy* ; Coronary Disease ; Treatment Outcome ; Stents/adverse effects*

To investigate two clusters of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) in Xinyang City, Henan Province, in 2022, and analyze their causes, transmission route, risk factors, and the characteristics of virus genetic variation. Case search and case investigation were carried out according to the case definition. Blood samples from cases, family members and neighbors and samples of biological vectors were collected for RT-PCR to detect SFTSV. The whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were performed on the collected positive samples. A total of two clustered outbreaks occurred, involving two initial cases and ten secondary cases, all of which were family recurrent cases. Among them, nine secondary cases had close contact with the blood of the initial case, and it was determined that close contact with blood was the main risk factor for the two clustered outbreaks. After genome sequencing analysis, we found that the SFTSV genotype in two cases was type A, which was closely related to previous endemic strains in Xinyang. The nucleotide sequence of the SFTSV in the case was highly homologous, with a total of nine amino acid mutation sites in the coding region. It was not ruled out that its mutation sites might have an impact on the outbreak of the epidemic.
Humans ; Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Bunyaviridae Infections/epidemiology* ; Thrombocytopenia/complications* ; Phlebovirus/genetics* ; Disease Outbreaks ; China/epidemiology*

Tuberculosis is a serious zoonotic disease causing approximately 10 million new cases worldwide every year.The emergence of various drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is currently an important challenge intuberculosispre-vention and control,and an urgent need exists to develop new anti-tuberculosis drugs to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis and shorten the treatment time.The discovery of drug targets is a bottleneck inthe development of new anti-tuberculosis drugs.At present,the widely reported drug targets for tuberculosis include primarily new targets related to the biosynthesis of Mycobac-terium tuberculosis components and immune metabolic pathways.In addition,host-directed therapiestargeting the host immune system have become a research hotspot in recent years.Adjuvant host-directed therapies can enhance the therapeutic effect of tuberculosis and shorten treatment times by affecting granuloma formation,autophagy,host immune metabolism and the intra-cellular killing mechanism,as well as regulating pulmonary inflammation.The discovery of these new targets provides new ide-as for the future development of safe and effective new anti-tuberculosis drugs.

To investigate two clusters of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) in Xinyang City, Henan Province, in 2022, and analyze their causes, transmission route, risk factors, and the characteristics of virus genetic variation. Case search and case investigation were carried out according to the case definition. Blood samples from cases, family members and neighbors and samples of biological vectors were collected for RT-PCR to detect SFTSV. The whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were performed on the collected positive samples. A total of two clustered outbreaks occurred, involving two initial cases and ten secondary cases, all of which were family recurrent cases. Among them, nine secondary cases had close contact with the blood of the initial case, and it was determined that close contact with blood was the main risk factor for the two clustered outbreaks. After genome sequencing analysis, we found that the SFTSV genotype in two cases was type A, which was closely related to previous endemic strains in Xinyang. The nucleotide sequence of the SFTSV in the case was highly homologous, with a total of nine amino acid mutation sites in the coding region. It was not ruled out that its mutation sites might have an impact on the outbreak of the epidemic.
Humans ; Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Bunyaviridae Infections/epidemiology* ; Thrombocytopenia/complications* ; Phlebovirus/genetics* ; Disease Outbreaks ; China/epidemiology*